The California Faculty Association is seeking authorization from union members at large to take concerted action and strike until their requested 5 percent salary increase is accepted.
In the midst of a campaign trail to raise support for “The Fight for Five,” CFA representatives touched base with California State University, Long Beach staff on Wednesday to share new information on the faculty salary mediation process and solidify commitment to a potential faculty strike.
“We are not the enemy,” said CFA Associate Vice President Cecil Canton as he addressed the faculty. “But if they want war, God d-mn it, they will get war.”
The California State University Board of Trustees has offered a 2 percent General Salary Increase for the 25,000 state faculty members in the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 school years, but the CFA has declined the offer.
Canton went on to explain during Wednesday’s meeting that in all his years as part of CFA bargaining committees, he had never seen action from the CSU Chancellor without being on the brink of strike.
“We are giving them every opportunity to say ‘we were wrong,’” Canton said. “[The strike] will cost them a lot more than 5 percent if they don’t settle.”
“The Fight for Five” campaign has been the backbone of faculty salary negotiations between CFA and the California State University system for the last few months and references the 5 percent increase desired by faculty.
After a formally declared impasse and numerous mediation sessions still failed to yield a consensus on a set percentage increase, CFA dug their heels into the dirt and took to the streets with campus meetings.
Eagan and Canton are at the forefront of the campaign, and are working with individual chapter representatives on CSU campuses to reach as many CFA representatives and members as possible.
CSULB CFA Chapter President Douglas Domingo-Forasté and CSULB Librarian Kelly Janousek, both of whom are serving on the bargaining team, were also present at Wednesday’s luncheon and made personalized pleas to mobilize Long Beach faculty.
The only chance faculty have to secure a higher salary before 2018, when the next CSU contract begins, is through this negotiation process, and the CFA sees no better way to win than with a strike.
“Bargaining is not about reason or rationality,” Eagan said. “It’s about power.”
Final courses of action will likely be decided October 19-28, when CFA is set to open a 10-day voting period as response to a failed mediation report.